1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a Plasma Display Panel (PDP) having a new structure.
2. Related Art
A Plasma Display Panel (PDP) similar to that shown in Japanese Laid-open Patent No. 1998-172442 includes a lower substrate, address electrodes arranged in parallel to each other on an upper surface of the lower substrate, a lower dielectric layer covering the address electrodes, barrier ribs formed on the lower dielectric layer, a phosphor layer arranged on an upper surface of the lower dielectric layer and a side surface of the barrier rib, an upper substrate arranged in parallel to the lower substrate, sustain electrode pairs disposed on a lower surface of the upper substrate, an upper dielectric layer covering the sustain electrode pairs, and a protective layer covering the upper dielectric layer. The sustain electrode pair includes an X electrode and a Y electrode, and the X electrode and the Y electrode respectively include transparent electrodes and bus electrodes.
In the above-noted PDP, one sub-pixel is defined by one sustain electrode pair and two adjacent barrier ribs. In the PDP having the above-noted structure, a sub-pixel which will emit light is selected by an address discharge between the address electrode and the Y electrode, and the sub-pixel emits light by a sustain discharge between the X electrode and the Y electrode of the selected sub-pixel. In more detail, a discharge gas contained within the sub-pixel emits ultraviolet rays due to the sustain discharge, and the ultraviolet rays cause the phosphor layer to emit visible light. The light emitted from the phosphor layer forms an image displayed on the PDP. There are many ways to improve a light emission efficiency of the PDP, for example, a large volume of a space where the sustain discharge occurs for exciting the discharge gas, a large surface area of the phosphor layer, and no interference for the visible light emitted from the phosphor layer.
However, in the PDP having the above-noted structure, the sustain discharge only occurs between the X electrode and the Y electrode adjacent to the protective layer. Thus, the volume of the space where the sustain discharge occurs is not large, the surface area of the phosphor layer is not large, and some of the visible light emitted from the phosphor layer is absorbed and/or reflected by the protective layer, the upper dielectric layer, the transparent electrodes, and the bus electrodes. Therefore, the visible light passing through the upper substrate is about 60% of the visible rays emitted from the phosphor layer.